Nowadays, people are concentrating more and more on good looks and likeability because it gives them confidence, and often, these traits come with money and power. In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller portrays the life of a salesman, Willy, who values the superficial quality of likeability and attractiveness over learning. He is obsessed with the idea of being well-liked which ultimately takes him nowhere. His son unfortunately follows that principle and ends up with an unhappy life. Many events that happen in this play reflect on a principle that being popular is not the only thing one needs to have in order to gain respect and be successful in life. Truth is that hard work without complaint is the key to success.
“Someday I’ll have my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home anymore/Bigger than Uncle Charlie! Because Charley is not-liked. He is liked, but he is not well-liked” (1244). This quote shows how Willy uses popularity as a measurement to one success in life. He believes that his son will be more successful in the future because he is more well-like than Uncle Charlie. Willy uses this ideal as a foundation for his entire life and clearly this belief has also transfer to his son. “Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand…Because the men who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want” (1246). Willy discredits Bernard learning abilities and puts the popularity matters above everything else which is ironic because Bernard hard work pays off as a successful business when Biff is going nowhere with the popularity he has in high school. This quote further emphasizes Willy only interest is popularity and ...
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Throughout the play, many events show Willy appreciation to traits such as good looking and popularity. He uses this as a principal to not only live his life but also encourage others to do the same. like his son. He gives a condescending look on people who do not agree or live or the same ideal that he does when he does not think Bernard will be success because he is a nerd that only focus on school work. However, that one thing, hard work is more important to become successful than anything of the superficial perception of look and popularity that Willy has. Only until very end of life, he realizes that look and popularity is not what it takes to live a happy life.
Work Cited
Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W.Norton, 2013. 1235-295. Print.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed.Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 1908-1972. Print.
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
Throughout the play, Willy can be seen as a failure. When he looks back on all his past decisions, he can only blame himself for his failures as a father, provider, and as a salesman (Abbotson 43). Slowly, Willy unintentionally reveals to us his moral limitations that frustrates him which hold him back from achieving the good father figure and a successful business man, showing us a sense of failure (Moss 46). For instance, even though Willy wants so badly to be successful, he wants to bring back the love and respect that he has lost from his family, showing us that in the process of wanting to be successful he failed to keep his family in mind (Centola On-line). This can be shown when Willy is talking to Ben and he says, “He’ll call you a coward…and a damned fool” (Miller 100-101). Willy responds in a frightful manner because he doesn’t want his family, es...
Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that the journey is not the same for every individual. Media often leads its viewers toward a “one size fits all” version of success that may help themselves, but will rarely help the viewers. This is seen in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Miller includes multiple instances of symbolism and personification to reveal to the reader the situational irony in Willy’s life, underlining the theme of self-deception in regard to the American Dream.
Will has put into his son’s minds that being “well-liked” means that you will do well and go further in life that anyone else. This is proven when Willy is talking to the boys in a flashback when the boys were younger and were waxing their father's car after he had returned from a trip. Willy had told the boys that he would open a bigger, more successful business than his Uncle Charley because he is more
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Seventh Edition. X.J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 2128-2193. Print.
Barack Obama made history by being elected President of the United States, twice. This is just one more example that the American Dream is without a doubt achievable. Its pursuit is not easy; it requires undeniable hard work, modesty and optimism. Armed with these characteristics, seekers of this lifestyle will undeniably succeed. Success, though, is an interesting concept, for it can entail many superficial qualities. Willy Loman, the tragic hero of the play Death of a Salesman, sees only the superficial qualities of this dream. He views success solely as likeability (linked with attractiveness), and wealth. Ignoring all methods to honorably achieve these, Arthur Miller demonstrates how Willy’s search for the superficial qualities of the American Dream lead him to his own despair.
Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman”. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. Dana Gioia and X.J. Kennedy.10th Ed. New York: Pearson, 2007.
Willy is blind to the reality around him. This blindness, is his tragic flaw like that of Oedipus Rex. Willy is a dreamer who is unable to face the realities of a modern day society. Willy builds his whole life around the philosophy that if a person is well likedand good looking, he will be successful. Willy says to Biff, "I thank Almighty God that you are both are built like Adonises." Later, Willy makes the comment, "Be liked and you will never want." His need to be well liked is so strong that his choices throughout his life, and his blindness to the reality around him, prevents Willy from realizing his dreams and values were flawed.
Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman.” The Norton Introduction to Literature 10. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. 495-506.
In Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman’s warped view of the American Dream caused tragedy in his family because he stressed the importance of popularity over hard work and risk-taking over perserverence. *Willy grew up believing that being "well-liked" was important to becoming a success. He believed that being well-liked could help you charm teachers and open doors in business. *He is proud that the neighborhood boys flock around Biff and respond to Biff’s athletic abilities, and in the same breath scoffs at the nerdy Bernard, who is too focused on school and his studies to be popular. Even though Biff turns out to be a failure as an adult, Willy holds on to the hopes that a business man who Biff met years ago will offer him a terrific job if Biff can be his old likeable self and recapture the confidence and grace he had as a teenager.
In the end, he kills himself by crashing his car, hoping to get the life insurance money for his family. He is fervently determined to succeed in his contemporary competitive society. In a conversation with his children about Bernard, he enumerates a few features he presumes are important if one wants to have success. Willy tells his children that Bernard might get the best grades in school, but they will certainly have more success than he will as they are “[.] built like Adonis’s” (Miller 34). Willy assumes that it is necessary to be attractive to become successful.
Miller, Arthur “Death of a Salesman” Literature: Craft and Voice. Ed. Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2012. 205-13. Print.
Willy’s hubris makes him feel extremely proud of what he has, when in reality he has no satisfaction with anything in his life. Willy Loman’s sons did not reach his expectations, as a father, but he still continued to brag about Biff and Happy in front of Bernard. Willy Loman caused the reader to empathize with him because before his tragic death he did everything he could for his family. Empathy, Hubris, and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distends from the beginning. He is unable to face reality and realize that he’s not successful in life or at his job; he remains living in a world where he thinks he’s greater than everybody else because he’s a salesman.